The police departments of Sussex County, New Jersey began a new program that will start later this month which they hope will encourage kids to wear helmets when riding their bicycles or skating. The new program will reward kids who wear helmets when riding their bikes with a coupon for a treat at local businesses.

Dear Heather, I enjoyed reading your Dear Heathers when you published them, but it seems like it's been a while since you posted one. Also, I have been doing my own workout at home for a few years now, I alternate strength training and cardio and it seems to be a good system. But I do sit-ups every morning before I shower (I know they are strength training, but I have a phobia about my middle) and even though I can do 50 at a time and it's easy, I still do them. Is there a way I can make it harder so I can improve the results from doing them? - Thanks, Arizona Fan

Dear Arizona Fan.

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it. Yes, Dear Heather has sat idle for a time now, life seemed to be unexpectedly busy, specifically with my dental issues. I thought they would be resolved by now, but my insurance wouldn't pay for the procedure (or to be more precise they offered to pay $77 of the $1200 - what a bargain, eh?) I have an appointment with a local dental college that will do the work for cost, but they were pretty packed on the appointments, so I can't see them until the middle of August.

In the meanwhile, let's talk about your sit-ups. If you are doing standard sit-ups (50 are impressive) and they're easy, consider varying the types of abdominal exercises you do. For example:

• Monday - Bicycle Crunches - this requires that you pump your legs and twist your torso as you crunch and reach left elbow to right knee and right elbow to left knee
• Tuesday - Do 7-7-7s - this is a form of crunch that requires that you do 7 crunches towards the left, 7 towards the center and 7 towards the right
• Wednesday - Reverse crunches - instead of lifting your torso, let your legs do the work. Lay on your back, toes pointed towards the ceiling and knees slightly bent, control the gravity and bring them down to you and the push up again - you'll be engaging your core to hold this position
• Thursday - Standard Sit-ups if you want or return to bicycle crunches, you can also add a five pound medicine ball that you hold to your chest while doing the sit-ups to increase the resistance
• Friday - Day Off

Now you may change this around so you are doing an alternative method of abdominal exercise every other day while your body gets used to it. This is important to keep from tearing or causing injury to an abdominal muscle. I spoke with a mom just a week ago that lunged across the room to scoop up a toddler who'd fallen and she tore two muscles in her abdomen, so it can happen. Be careful.

Good luck with your workout.

Last week, the Pentagon began the highly anticipated educational programs on post-traumatic stress disorder, and mild traumatic brain injuries. Flag officers and Army senior executive service civilians were the first to participate in the new program, where they learned how to recognize and help distressed Soldiers who may or may not recognize their unseen injuries.

It was a quiet and simple week here in the Fitness blog. Look for some serious ramp up next week as we get ready for the Back to School rush and tackle things like what you can do for your local P.E. programs and how to manage your fitness schedule around work, school and much more. In the meanwhile, let's take a look at our week in review:

Monday, July 30th

U is for Uniforms and we all have our own specific fitness uniforms. They serve a dual purpose: making you comfortable while you work out and putting you in the right mind set to work out.

Tuesday, July 31st

In V is for VO2 Max we take a look at the measurement of oxygen consumption necessary to perform at a maximum effort. It's a measurement of fitness and you can improve the VO2 Max if you lose a few pounds too.

Wednesday, August 1st

W is for Walking takes a look at walking, one of my favorite forms of fitness. Walking is a great sport and anyone can do it and there are any number of ways you can jazz up your walking routine and make the best of it.

Thursday, August 2nd

X is for eXtreme Fitness takes a look at what happens when you go to far with your fitness plans. In the case of fitness, moderation is your best course of action. If you do too much or you go to far, you are more likely to injure yourself or set yourself back.

Friday, August 3rd

Finally, we rounded off our week with Y is for Yoga and yes, it was the simple way out for the letter Y, but there are a lot of reasons to do yoga and a lot of benefits you reap from performing it.

What was your favorite article this week?

For more great fitness articles be sure to check out our previous weeks in review. Also, be sure to check back in next week as Dear Heather makes a return to answer your fitness questions.

A study estimates that roughly 112,000 to 280,000 Americans are currently in a "minimally conscious sate," which means that patients show only occasional awareness of themselves and their environment. For the most part, there is very few to no treatment options with a very low success rate, and more often than not the chances of reversing these effects are impossible. However, one man's story is giving hope to those in a similar situation.